Dhareshwar
We had heard that there are lot of birds out near the temple. There was nothing much planned and we thought this could be best day to catch few birds.
The temple is located in Dhyari. From Abhiruchi off singhagad road you need to take left and leave behind the DSK vishwa turn and carry on.
The narrow road turns towards left and you would see the temple on the right. The entrance is grand built in stone.
The surroundings were pleasant and we could see sunrise behind the trees.
Theres a huge banyan tree on one side of the temple.
All over buildings have mushroomed around but temple pleasant
green surroundings attracted lot of small birds. We could capture a good
number of them in our cameras .
http://ekpravas.blogspot.com/2011/03/dhareshwar.html
Ramdara
Base Village: Loni KalbhorDistance: 22 KMs from Pune
Route: Pune-Solapur Road
Time visited: Feb 2011
Time to see around: 0.5 hours max (You can relax and spend 2-3 hours easily)
How to visit: From Swargate hit Pune-Solapur highway. After the
toll road starts at Loni, pass the HPCL main gate, on the left you would
see MIT Vishwa Gurukul. You will have to cross a Bridge. As the Bridge
ends take a right turn into the village. On left hand side as the
divider ends is the Dutt Mandir. Take a right turn here and the bumpy
road goes all out to Ramdara.
After visiting Bhuleshwar
we headed back for Pune. The second agenda was visit to Ramdara.
Ramdara is great quick getaway from hustle and bustle of the city.
The road is lonely 4-5 kms drive through tiny hamlets. The entire
landscape again was rusty yellows. The road is all ups and down. After
climbing a small mountain finally the Green bushy spot became clearly
visible. 2-3 foreigners sped by on motor bikes...
At
the entrance are dense shady huge trees. You can park car nicely there.
A five minutes’ walk will reveal a beautiful temple surrounded by small
lake and coconut trees. The green coloured water is full of algae but
the calmly floating ducks and gentle breeze adds charm to peaceful
tranquil.
The temple has beautiful idols of Lord Rama, Sita and Laxman. The huge nandi in the temple is beautifully crafted.
Could
locate few ducks quacking merrily before they proceeded for swim in the
hot weather. You can relax in the shady trees and munch on Bhel or
Vadpav, the only food item that is probably sold here apart from Guavas.
Best to carry your own food and water bottle.
On the way we bought a bagful of fresh onions from the farmers who were digging them up. Well that made my entire return journey slightly teary in spite of turning on AC...
While returning we caught glipses of beautiful enchanting colored flowers in the roadside nurseries. We were back home for a late lunch at 2/2.30 PM with wonderful memories to cherish.
Sunrise at Alandi
Type: Walk
Grade: Easy (in case you walk everyday for atleast 2-3 kms)
Distance: 17 KMs from Pune
Cost: 30 Rs!
Sant Dnyaneshwar was a great saint, poet, philosopher and spiritual leader and founder of warkari movement in the 13th century. Alandi is the place famous for Sant Dnyaneshwar's Samadhi. Alandi is situated on the banks of river Indrayani. The Samadhi temple built in 1570 is worth to see. Surrounded by thick greenery with beautiful bacdrop of ghat adds to the solemnity and serenity of the place. Every year Dnyaneshwar's palkhi starts from Alandi to Pandharpur in month of July and thousands of people, young and old, accompany on foot.
Every month first on second sunday a group of people walks from
Pune to Alandi. We decided to join this walk of 17 kms. Getting up at 3
AM in morning seemed bit difficult initially but I was very excited. We
started at 3.30 AM and reached the starting point- Pratik Nagar Bust
Stop before Vishrantwadi. Once you turn left from Bund Garden Bridge and
pass Deccan College you have to take right. This also goes to airport
if you turn right after pratik nagar.
Well there were around 10 people already gathered. The group is
led by one Mr Kanade and 2 others. Mr Kanade informed us he was doing
this activity for 17 years! Once a year in Jan they also visit Dehu
temple from ALandi - so they walk around 32 Kms... Most of the member
had been doing this for 3+ years and few had been doing 9-10 years! Once
in a year they also walk all the way from Lonavala to Shivaji nagar!
We started at 4 AM sharp. The traffic was low with few big trucks
honking and passing. the Road till vishrantwadi is almost good- 2 lanes
on each side with a recently planted trees and the service roads on the
side. There are few bad patches but I could the road construction going
on. I guess few kms after Dighi it becomes a single road. The calm
morning and gentle but mild cold breeze made the walk easier. I could
still see 'Saptarshi' above and the twinkling 'Dhruv' star on the right.
I was surprised I wasnt even feeling thirsty. I could locate 'Gokhale
Mala' on the way, the only known place to me. Could see some new
construction activity and few luxurious flat schemes coming up on the
road.
Approx
6 Kms before Alandi we stopped for 10 minute darshan at Sai Temple.
It’s a probably newly built huge temple complex and the Kakad Aarti was
just about to end. It was beautiful temple indeed.
We
proceeded to our destination. At 6.30 AM sharp we were on the Ghat. The
Ghat was still trying to wake up and the atmosphere was dizzy with the
blanketed fog. The tranquil reflections in the silent water were
aspiring. The whole place seemed to be blessed with awesome natural
beauty. Along the sides you could see the boiling water pots and the
early visitors waiting for warm bathing water. Elsewhere some were
un-necessarily hurrying up and seemed to be heading for the pooja. The
small shopkeepers were equally busy doing there setups probably praying
for good business for today. The tea vendors amidst water vapour of
boiling tea could be seen giving orders to the cooks.The main temple
gateway was all prepared to welcome today’s visitors and pilgrims in
dazzling lights.
A hopeful vasudev was singing some bhajans at the door.
A big peepal treecalled ‘Suvarna Peepal’ stood on the right at the entrance.
The
temple complex was beautiful from inside. Seeing the walkthrough
barricades I could imagine the crowd during the palkhi. There was a huge
banyan tree called ‘Ajeevan Vruksha’
We took darshan and then assembled outside. The most touching
experience was that every member distributed 'prasad' to other members
and touched their feet. After a huge glass of milk we headed for the bus
stand. I guess a bus runs every 15 minutes from Pune to Alandi and I
could see the first bus around 5 AM. We got a bus immediately. As we
proceeded I could finally see sun struggling to spread in light amidst
the dense fog.
We were back by 8 at Pratik nagar. After waving off good bye to
other members we hit the road and at 8.30 I was enjoying the sunday
special 'pattis' along with 'Times of India'.
Unforgettable Lavasa
Lavasa
is the largest hill city located in the midst of the verdant green
Sahyadris around 40Kms from Punes-chandani chowk. It is supposed to be
spread amidst 25000 acres of lush landscape with sixty kilometers of
lakefront. It is promoted by HCC and few others.
The road is pleasant if you are driving around monsoon. The toll plaza after Chandni chowk charges you 27/- for return journey and 18/- for one way. The road is enjoyable once you cross Temghar Dam and is pleasure after you cross Lavasa Entrance Gate. The Dasve valley view is amazing just near the gate. At various locations you will Notice that they have built valley watch points.
The Nice little Helipad is just few Kms after the gate.
Link road on the dam is amazing and you would love to watch speed boats fizzing in the Dam water.
The area near the town hall is almost developed and it almost looks like you are walking across a European town. The information Center is amazing complete with Auditorium and Touch Screen kiosks.
Unfortunately there are very less options for food if you going for a day outing without stay option. There are no regular restaurants and I could notice only 3 hotels which are all 3-4 star category. Watershaw and Fortune hotels are right near the town hall but they seem to have limited options and a very high cost. You could book Buffet lunch at Ekant Retreat.
Ekant Retreat is amazing and you would love it right from its parking lot. From Parking you almost get 270 degree view of back waters and Dasve town far below. The hotel has nature trails and some activity places in near by mountains and it should be really fun to stay at this place.
Overall a must visit and best time would be after few showers. Everything seemed to very high end, well thought and neatly planned- right from watch towers, security stuff, villa and apartment locations to piped gas across the town.
- September 20, 2009
Jadhavgad- Kamat Hotel
A
300-year-old almost a ground fort near Saswad, around 25km from Pune,
Jadhavgad seems to be a pleasant surprize package to old and young
alike.
Pilaji
Jadhavrao had built Fort Jadhavgadh in Jadhavwadi as a place of
residence as well as a safe haven when being attacked by enemies.
Shahuji Maharaj had entrusted Pilaji Jadhavrao to, gather able men
across Jadhavgadhi and Saswad area, train them to fight, reunite the
forces to fight against the Mughals during the troubled times of
Marathas. It was due to heroic efforts of men like
Pilaji Jadhavrao that Chatrapati Shahuji finally sat on the throne and
later governed with the help of his loyal Peshwas.
Jadhavgad now taken over by Kamat group of hotels, they have truly recreated the pages of history of Martha Era. The attendants smartly dressed like mavalas on the front door and the receptionist in traditional Navaris greet you warmly.
As
you enter the fort gate and pass the pathways you are completely
spellbound by the mysterious charm of this place. A day trip is offered
at 500 Rs per person covers entry to museum and guided tour to hotel
property and can be redeemed at hotel restaurants.
Since we werent really prepared after the trek to dine in the five star restaurant we decided to just visit the the musem built around ghodshala charged at 20 Rs per person.
The museum comprising Vithal Kamat’s personal collection called AAI dedicated to the memories of his mother. This two level museum has collection of the traditional artifacts, jewelry and houehold utensils. The tanjavar murals, huge pots and carved wooden doors make this place a truly worth visit.
-July 11, 2009
Malhargad AKA Sonori cha Killa
Malhargad AKA Sonori cha Killa
Sardar
Panse built the last fort of the Maratha empire- Malhargad near Sasvad
in the Bhuleshwar range, to watch over Dive Ghat around 1760-65. Panse
was the chief in charge of Tofkhana of the Peshwas and there are ruins
of Sardar Panse's palace in the base village Sonori. To reach this place
from Pune: Reach Saswad and Saswad Bus stand, pass Nagar Parishad take a
left turn towards village Sonori. The road doesnt have any naming
indications. Sonori is about 6 kms or more from here and the road till
the fort is in very bad shape. On the way enjoy view of pune city and
Mastani lake from the last turn in Dive Ghat.
We
started at 7 AM. After a quick Vada-Pav in saswad we proceeded to
Sonori. We took 0.5 hours to travel 6KMs full of potholes and mud. Hats
off to ST bus driver who daily takes the bus on the ruins of ;once
existed Tar Road;. Scaling the fort isn't a tough and takes hardly half
an hour to 40 odd minutes from the right ridge of the fort. A big
misguiding trail lead you right under HT wires to backside of fort. The
continous humming noise and the eerie winds made the situation slightly
scary. The trail suddenly ended and we were in middle of nowhere. But it
looked we could climb easily from back too. So we tried to climb
slightly steep rocky patch and ended up entering through sort of
Chor-Darwaja.
There
is nothing much to see on this fort. The fort is named after Lord
Malhari i.e. Khandoba. The two temples stand guarding Balle-Killa in
good condition- temple of Khandoba and temple of Lord Shiva.
Fortification is still in good condition. There are two dry wells and a
large water tank that might have served as source of water in past. Few
showers of rains had ensured ensured the fort was not completely barren
as we had imagined. Eagles flying high above and butterflies basking in
the warm sunlight keep you busy all the way.
It started drizzling on the way back and unfortunately we missed palace of Panse on the return trip. But all was not lost as we visited awesome Jadhavagad while returning back.
-July 11, 2009
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